Scope creep
Scope creep is work a client gets that was never in the agreement, added one small request at a time. In an agency, the invisible kind arrives as quick asks in email, chat and calls that nobody logs. Each one looks too small to push back on, and together they eat the margin on the account.
Why it matters
A fixed fee assumes a fixed amount of work. When requests come in through several channels and nobody records them, nobody can see the account drifting until the hours are spent. The account manager says yes to keep the client happy, the work gets done, and the first sign is a profitability report that looks wrong at quarter end. By then the client is used to the extra, and charging for it feels to them like a price rise.
An example
Say a design agency has a monthly retainer for a set of social posts. The client starts sending small changes in chat: a resize here, an extra version there, a quick banner for an event. Each one takes under an hour, so nobody raises it. A few months in, the account is getting a second retainer's worth of work for one fee, and nobody on either side can say when that started.
How a system handles it
A system gives every request one way in and a record. Requests from email and chat land in one list, each marked against the agreement as included or extra. The account manager sees the running total for the month, and anything extra goes to the client as a short note to approve or push to later, before the work starts. Saying yes stays easy, and it stops being invisible.
Questions
How do I raise scope creep without upsetting the client?
Raise it before the work starts, with the request in front of you both: this is outside what we agreed, here is what it adds, do you want it this month or next? A clear choice up front is easier to hear than a surprise invoice later.
Is all scope creep bad?
Not always. Some extra work is a good investment in the relationship. The trouble starts when it goes untracked, because then you can't decide whether to give it, charge for it or turn it down.
Related
- Retainer re-setupRetainer re-setup is rebuilding the same project every month for each retainer client. Why it costs margin and how a system sets up each month from a template.
- HandoffA handoff is the moment work passes from one person, team or tool to the next. Why work waits and details get lost there, and how a system carries them.
- The proposal bottleneck: why proposal turnaround is slowProposals wait for one person's free afternoon. Capture the inputs as the call ends, draft in your template, and keep scope and price with the owner.